Toy bowling-alley.



N0. 693,19I, 'l Patented Feb..v ||,\|90`2.'

M.. ULMER. l TOY BOWLING ALLEY.

' (Appx'icmon mad Lig. am. 1901,)

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UNITED STATES v PATENT OFFICE.

lMELoHIoR ULMEE, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

TOY BOWLING-ALLEY.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 693,191, datedll'flebruary` 1 1, 1902.

Application nea August 3o, 1961. serrano. 73,854. (Nomads.)

To a/ZZ whom, if may 'con/cern.-`

Be it knownthat I, MELCHIOE ULMEE, a citizen of the United States,residing in New York, borough of the Bronx, in the State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in rloyBowling-Alleys, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in games, and in particular tothat class of games in which a number of pins or other similar,

members are bowled over by means of a ball. The object of the inventionis to provide a simple and durable game apparatus of this;

kind in the operation of which both chance and skill' enter; and forthis purpose the invention consists of a toy bowling-alley comprising arectangular board, two. followers, one at each of the front corners ofsaid board, follower-boxes for said followers, a field of pins onsaidboard at the front of the same,

. cushions, one at each of the rear corners of sections on lines 3 3 and4 4, Fig. 2.

Similar charactersof reference indicate cor-` responding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates the game-board of my improved toybowling-alley, which board Vis composed ofV the base ct, side walls d',front wall a2, and rear wall a3, or constructed in any other suitablemanner and preferably made of oblong shape, as shown.

Ateach of the front corners is arranged av spring-actuatedfollower-block B, the spring b3 of which is interposed between the sameand the front wall a2., said block,4 spring, and

the pin b2 projecting upwardly from said block through a slot b in thecover-plate b of the follower-box, forming together the fol. lower. Theside wall b4, together with the adjacent portions of the base a andfront wall a2 and the cover-plate b, form the followerbox. The outer orrear corners of the Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same;

Y Vgame-board are provided each with a cushion of peculiar shape andcomposed of a fillingpiece, corner piece or block d, provided with afacecushion d@ The cushioning of the corner-pieces and the rear end a3of theboard between the same is preferably accomplished by asingle stripof rubber or other suitable elastic material extending continuously uponthe same.l Upon the base-board a and prefherably toward the front of thesame, as shown, are located a number of bowling-pins E,which may bearranged in any suitable manner. In order to'aid the return'of the ball,it is preferable to give thegame-'board a slight inclination out ofthehorizontal, and for thispurvpose two or more supporting-feetfat the rearof the board or other means for tilting the board may be used.

. As before stated, the object of my invention is to provide a gameapparatus in the operation of which not only skill but chance also is anelement. For the purpose of the latter l provide a ball, preferably ofglass or other heavy material, of a substantially less diameter than'the distance between the side wall of a follower-box and the adjacentside wall of thegame-board ,and the detecting-cushions at the outercorners of theboard opposite said follower-boxes, respectively, areformed in a peculiar manner to coperate with'said relative constructionof ball and follower-box for p producing deflection of the ball indifferent directions, according to the position of the same in thefollower-box when shot therefrom. The cornencushions are composed each Y`ably provided with a` slight concavity, into which the ball willseatitself,and the follower-` block is also preferably of less widththan the The face of each follower-block isilgyreferj-y roo follower-boxand so mounted in the 'same as to have lateral play therein about equalto the play of the ball in the same.'

The ball cis inserted in the follower-box and enters the recess of thefollower-block. Upon drawing the follower-block back by means of its pinb2 the ball recedes with the block, owing to the inclination o5 theboard, or when the board is not inclined the ball may be placed by theplayer in position against the retracted follower. Upon releasing thepin b2 the spring b3 throws the block forward and the ball is projectedalong the board either adjacent the side Wall of the same or at a slightdistance removed from the same, according to the position it occupied inthe follower-box when being thrown. The forward end of the oppositecushion d receives the ball and deflects it. This deflection,however,varies in direction, according to the point upon which the ballstrikes, and in this variation of direction, due to the fact that thediameter of the ball is less than the width of the follower-box, liesthe element of chance in the game. The follower-box may be madesufficiently wide so that the entire field may be covered from one box,the cushions being formed accordingly. Owing to the fact that some ofthe defiecting-surfaces are convex curves the differences in directionbetween the different courses of the ball are magnified, so that acomparatively slight increase of the play of the ball, in its box overthat shown in the drawings would enable the cov-1 It sl cring of theentire field from one box. preferable, however, to so proportion theplay ofthe ball that only a portion of the field of the pins can becovered from one follower, theremainder being reached from the other.This leaves to be determined by the player which follower to use in agiven case and adds to the interesting nature of the game. When theapparatus is constructed as in the drawings, the ball when delivered atone side of the box covers the course l, at the opposite the course3,and when thrown at a medium point follows, for example, the course 2.

The foregoing-described operation of the game is that which takes placewhen the ball is propelled with sufficient force so thatits momentumcarries it in approximately straight lines from the different points ofdeflection, and gravity due to tilting of the board has practically noinfluence upon the course of the ball. When, however, it is desired, for

instance, to strike from a follower a pin lo,l

cated at the lower portion of the field-that is to say, a pin out of thenormal course of the ball when shot from said follower-here theinfluence of gravity is allowed to act on the ball so as to pull thesame out of its straight lateral course from the last deflection intocontact with the pin, as indicated in dotted lines 4, and it thenbecomes a matter of both skill and chance as to whether or not the pinwill be struck, for if the player pull too hard gravity will not exertsufficient influence on the ball to draw it to the pin even though thedeflection be on the angles of the line 3, for instance. As to theapproximate point to which the followerI must be retracted to impart theproper initial momentum, this is a matter of judgment obtained bypractice with the game, and when one is familiar with the game can bewell judged.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent l. A toy bowling-alley, consisting of a rectangularboard, two followers, one at each of the front corners of said board,follower-boxes for said followers, a field of pins on said board at thefront of the same, cushions, one at each of the rear corners of saidboard, a cushioned end between said corner-cushions, said co1'-ner-cushions being composed each of a convex forward portion and aconcave rear portion merging into said cushioned end and a ball of lessdiameter than the width of either followerbox, adapted to be throwntherefrom substantially as set forth.

2. In a toy bowling-alley, the combination, with a hoard, and a field ofpins at the front of said board, of a cushioned rear wall at theopposite end of the board, and corner-cusb ions also at the opposite endof the board at each end of said rear wall and com posed each of aconvex forward portion and a concave rear portion merging into said rearwall, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as myinvention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MELCIIIOR ULMER.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH 1I. NILEs, PAUL GoErEL.

